Does time perception change in near death patients?

Hey, I was wondering if anyone had read any studies into time perception before or near death, I tried googling it and get the anecdotal "my life flashed before my eyes" type deal. I'm actually more interested in studies and published works though.

I was curious about the subject and would like to read up on it, and am trying to put something together for my neuro class. I thought perhaps like the event horizon of a black hole, at the moments preceding death or near death that time slows down in such a way that the observer never actually experiences death, only approaches it.

Maybe there's not really anything out there, due to the difficult nature of the topic.

Staff: Mentor

Hey, I was wondering if anyone had read any studies into time perception before or near death, I tried googling it and get the anecdotal "my life flashed before my eyes" type deal. I'm actually more interested in studies and published works though.

I was curious about the subject and would like to read up on it, and am trying to put something together for my neuro class. I thought perhaps like the event horizon of a black hole, at the moments preceding death or near death that time slows down in such a way that the observer never actually experiences death, only approaches it.

Maybe there's not really anything out there, due to the difficult nature of the topic.

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I believe there is no literature on it because it doesn't happen with chronic illness or old age as the cause of death.

To my knowledge, the "my life flashed before my eyes" has to do with people experiencing a frightening experience, such as a life threatening accident or situation. I have experienced the slowing down effect during accidents 3 times, and it happened before injury, it seems to be related to being very scared. No people that I know that were terminally ill ever mentioned any such experience.

it's all about memory, not turbo perception. "Normally, our memories are like sieves," he says. "We're not writing down most of what's passing through our system." Think about walking down a crowded street: You see a lot of faces, street signs, all kinds of stimuli. Most of this, though, never becomes a part of your memory. But if a car suddenly swerves and heads straight for you, your memory shifts gears. Now it's writing down everything — every cloud, every piece of dirt, every little fleeting thought, anything that might be useful.